Seal for envelops, packages, or the like.



PATENTED APR, 7, 1903.

J. 0. FLEECE.

SEAL FOR ENVELOPS, PACKAGES, OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1902.

I0 MODEL.

Jd lg egfom WHEQSSZS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

JAMES ORSON FLEECE, OF WILDWOOD, FLORIDA.

SEAL FOR ENVELOPS, PACKAGES, OR THE LIKE;

SPEGIFICATI01\T forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,839, dated April '7, 1903.

v Application filed June 27, 1902. Serial No. 113,433. No model.)

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES ORSON FLEEoE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wildwood, in the county of Sumter and State of Florida, have invented a new and useful Seal for Envelops, Packages, or the Like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved seals for envelops, packages, and the like whereby [O the same may be fastened quickly and securely Without the use of mucilage or cement of any kind and in such a manner as to make it absolutely impossible to obtain access to the contents of a package sealed therewith [5 without leaving evidence thereof.

My invention comprises two members which areto be secured, respectively, to the body of an envelop and to the flap thereof or to corresponding parts of a package to which the device may be applied and whichare adapted to be engaged with each other and connected in such a manner that they may not be separated for the purpose of removing-the contents of such envelop or package.

The invention consists in the improved con struction of the said seal members, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of an envelop with its flap eX-' shaped and applied to an envelop or package.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated by like characters of reference.

My improved seal is composed of two members, which may be designated the seal member 1 and the lock member 2, each being stamped from thin sheet metal and of any size and shape that may be desired.

The seal member 1 is provided around its edge with spurs 3, by bending which at right angles they may be inserted through the material of the envelop or package to which the seal is applied and secured by folding or bending them, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. l represents a stem secured about centrally to the body of the seal in any suitable mannerand having a head 5,'the outer surface of which is rounded, as will most plainly appear in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, so as to permit it to readily engage the lock member. The under side of the head 5 is formed with abrupt shoulders, as will be seen best at 7 in Fig. 2 of the drawings, so as to hold it securely in engagement with the lock member, as will be presently more fully described. The lock member of my improved seal is composed of a body portion 8, preferably of about the same shape or general outline as the seal member 1, although it may be somewhat smaller. The body 8 is provided with spurs 9, whereby it may be secured to that portion of the body of an envelop against which the flap is folded in such a position as tobe engaged by the seal member when the said flap is folded, or it may be secured to some corresponding portion of a package to which the seal is to be applied. The seal member is provided with laterally-extending arms 10 10 on diametrically opposite sides thereof, and the ends of said arms are of increased width and provided with curved recesses, as shown at 11, adapted to engage opposite sides of the stem of the seal member, under the head thereof, when the arms 10 are bent, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, so as .to locate the ends of said arms adjacent to opposite sides of a perforation 12, formed about centrally in the body of the seal member and of such a size as to admit of the ready passage therethrough of the head 5 of the stem 4 of the seal member. It will be particularly noticed'that when the arms 10 are bent, as in Figs. 1 and 2, parts of the outer ends of said arms are elevated from the body 8 of the lock member, so that bydepressing the said elevated parts the recessed extremities thereof will be forced in an inward direction toward each other and beyond the edge of the central opening 12.

From the foregoing description and by reference to the drawings hereto annexed the operation of my invention will be readily understood. The members of the seal having been secured to the body and the flap of an envelop, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, when the flap is folded the headed stem of the seal member will readily pass through the central perforation in the lock member, the material of which the envelop is constructed being perforated, as at 15, said perforation alining with the central perforation 12 in the lock member. When the headed stem has been thus inserted, pressure is brought to bear upon the bent parts of the arms 10, thus forcing the latter downward and inward under the head 5 of the stem 4, which latter will be embraced by the recessed ends of said arm, the extremities of the latter being disposed contiguous to the shouldered under side of the head 5. The compression of the arms 10 may be readily effected by simply exerting pressure upon opposite sides of the envelop by the thumbs and fingers, when the bent ends of said arms will be readily and naturally guided into place by the widened ends of said arms sliding along the surface of the body of the lock member. When the arm members 10 have been thus compressed, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that they are absolutely inaccessible except by tearing the cover of the envelop or otherwise so injuring the parts of the device as to leave positive evidence of its having been tampered with.

My improved sealing device, as will be seen from the foregoing, is extremely simple in its construction and may be easily applied to the purposes for which it has been devised. Its appearance is neat and in no wise objectionable, the only part showing on the outside of the envelop being the under surface of the seal member 1. This when desired may be stamped, embossed, or otherwise ornamented, or numbers corresponding with numbers printed or inscribed upon the package or envelop or indicating devices of any desired nature may be located upon the said exposed under surface of the seal.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a device of the class described, a perforated lock member having arms bent upon,

and lying at a distance from, the face of said lock member, the extremities of said arms being further bent to a position contiguous to the face of said lock member and adjacent to the edge of the perforation therein, substantially as set forth.

2. In a device of the class described, a lock member having a perforated body and arms provided with curved recesses at their outer extremities, said arms being so bent or curved as to locate their extremities contiguous to the face of said body and adjacent to the perforation therein, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device of the class described, a lock member having a perforated body and arms extending. from the edge of said body and provided with widened outer ends having curved recesses, said arms being so bent as to locate their recessed extremities contiguous to the face of said body and adjacent to the perforation therein, substantially as set forth.

4. A sealing device comprising a seal member having a headed stud and a locking member having a central perforation and oppositely-disposed curved arms, recessed at their outer ends, the recessed ends of said arms being disposed contiguous to the face of the body of the lock member and adjacent to the edge of the perforation therein, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device of the class described, a lock member having a perforation and provided with curved arms having widened ends with curved recesses formed therein, the said widened ends of said arms being disposed to slide against, and be guided by, the face of said lock member, in combination with a seal member having a headed stud adapted to engage the perforation in said lock member and to receive, under the head of said stud, the recessed ends of the arms of the lock member, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES ORSON FLEECE.

Witnesses:

J. H. DAVIS, J. A. BARWICK. 

